Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Oct;43(4):349-56.
doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2008.02.017. Epub 2008 Jun 5.

Vaginal microbicide preferences among midwestern urban adolescent women

Amanda E Tanner  1 , Jennifer M Katzenstein, Gregory D Zimet, Dena S Cox, Anthony D Cox, J Dennis Fortenberry
Affiliations

Vaginal microbicide preferences among midwestern urban adolescent women

Amanda E Tanner et al. J Adolesc Health. 2008 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess adolescent women's preferences for specific microbicide characteristics including pregnancy prevention, timing of application, potential for side effects, and whether it targeted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or other sexually transmitted infections (STI). Potential differences in microbicide preferences by adolescent age group and behavioral patterns including engaging in sexual intercourse and use of hormonal contraception were examined, as it was hypothesized that as adolescents progress into adulthood and gain sexual experience their preferences in microbicide characteristics may shift.

Method: Adolescent and young women (N = 405, 56.0% African American; 24.0% Euro-American) between the ages of 14 and 20 (mean = 17.0, SD = 1.8) were recruited from urban community-based clinics. Video-Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interviews were conducted with the young women, during which they were asked about their preferences regarding the characteristics of hypothetical vaginal microbicides. Conjoint analysis was utilized to determine adolescent women's relative preferences for each microbicide characteristic and intent-to-purchase microbicides based upon a combination of the selected properties.

Results: Overall, the results suggest adolescent and young women had an ordered preference for a microbicide with (1) no side effects, (2) pregnancy prevention, (3) postcoital application, and (4) protection against HIV. Age and behavioral group conjoint analyses resulted in the same pattern of preferences as those reported for the entire group. However, women having sex and not using hormonal contraception had a stronger preference for postcoital application.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that young women's ratings of microbicides were sensitive to characteristics such as side effects, pregnancy prevention, and timing of application and should be considered in microbicide development. The conjoint analysis approach is useful in understanding microbicide preferences, and should be utilized with other populations to assess preferences for specific microbicide characteristics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Part Worth Utilities for the preference for each characteristic, among the entire sample of adolescents.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alliance for Microbicide Development. Ongoing microbicide clinical trials by phase. [Accessed January 25, 2007]. Available at: from http://secure.microbicide.org/NetReports/ClinicalTrialsOngoingByPhase.aspx.
    1. Harrison P, Rosenberg Z, Bowcut J. Topical microbicides for disease prevention: Status and challenges. Clin Infect Dis. 2003;36:1290–1294. - PubMed
    1. Rosenbaum L, Sanford W, Jacobs JZ. The Boston Women’s Book Collective, Our bodies, ourselves for the new century. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc.; 1998. Sexuality; pp. 229–267.
    1. Diamond LM. Introduction: In search of good sexual-development pathways for adolescent girls. New Dir Child Adolesc Dev. 2006;112:1–7. - PubMed
    1. Farr G, Gabelnick H, Sturgen K, et al. Contraceptive efficacy and acceptability of the female condom. Am J Public Health. 1994;84(12):1960–1964. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances